An Illustrated Fashion Blog by Angie Réhe

So much for turning over a new leaf this year – I was going to gift myself time affluence, a calm mind, plenty of time for personal drawing, ETCETERA. Instead I gave myself a couple of monstrous project deadlines and a wonderful bout of tennis elbow.

Classes and workshops at The Drawing Salon were the first victims of the crazy pace but THEY ARE BACK! First up is the Fashion Illustration Bootcamp. This very excellent one-day workshop starts at the very basics so the the information is clear and correct, then works through my particular method of getting the poses down on paper easily and quickly. Once we’ve mastered the figures we move onto colour and media technique and how you can use just a couple of marker pens with some coloured pencils and do amazing things. Don’t worry, when your energy flags I shove chocolate in your mouth – you will love it!

Patience is a virtue / All good things come to those who wait / etc etc – Well finally one of these clichés came true: After more than a decade my mother has accepted that unlike her, I don’t like the small solid chocolate eggs – all I want is Humpty Dumpty. WELL, like the supersized hint I dropped a couple of weeks ago, the Humpty Dumpty she bought me could feed a small family!

The only down-side? The big box makes it less likely that my cat Frankie will get her head stuck in it again and bounce backwards around the room while I literally loose my load from laughing. #goals

On today’s 6th and final episode for this summer’s run of The New Black on 3RRR radio, I was joined again by the fabulous Karen Webster, former CEO of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF). We chatted ethics in the fashion industry, why we shouldn’t play the blame game with fashion companies, and how the buck STARTS with the consumer. I also chatted live to New York to the utterly brilliant Bil Donovan (that’s his illustration above). He is one of the world’s leading fashion illustrators, and also one of the nicest people I’ve ever met – you will see what I mean when you listen to the interview. Along with producing work for luxury brands and publications around the world, he also teaches fashion illustration at schools including the F.I.T., and is the first and only artist-in-residence for Dior Beauty. He was commissioned by British Vogue to do an illustration for the January edition (below), and you can hear on the show how that commission came about.

I chatted with Bil about what Fashion Illustration actually means, and how does he feel about digital illustration vs traditional (by hand) illustration. You can listen back to the show here, and for your viewing pleasure below is some more of his work. If you yourself are interested in fashion illustration or drawing, I heartily recommend his instructive and enjoyable book: Advanced Fashion Illustration: Lifestyle Illustration

Do you know any Oscar winners? Well after today’s episode of The New Black on 3RRRFM I can say I do! The show kicked off with Paola Di Trocchio, acting senior curator of fashion and textiles at the NGV. We chatted about the growing popularity of fashion exhibitions in major Art galleries here and around the world. I tried hard to get a scoop about the next upcoming fashion blockbuster but she’s a hard nut to crack – I had to settle for the current Triennial, which she assured me includes a generous quota of fashion..

Next up I chatted with ACMI’s film programmer and resident stylish guy James Nolen. We talked about ACMI’s regular fashion film programs, including the one upcoming in March as part of VAMFF – it will feature two brilliant fashion films – one about Yves Saint Laurent and his gorgeous drawings, the other about Manolo Blahnik, who I love because he always has and does use fashion illustrations in his ad campaigns. BRAVO.

The show did not slacken pace – my final guest was Oscar/BAFTA/AFI/Tony/Olivier/Helpmann-award-winning costume designer Tim Chappel. He’s in town for the opening of the 10th anniversary tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical. I got to ask him about having that statue handed to him by Sharon Stone, and hear what it’s like to be handed the keys to Hollywood. I was also astounded to discover there are 500 costumes as part of this musical! It will be an extravaganza that you can check out here.

The lovely and talented Tim Chappel, and me!

(left to right) James Nolen, Paola Di Trocchio, and Tim Chappel, bonding in the 3RRR studios.

This week on The New Black on 3RRR, we kind of free-balled it, meandering through a conversation about all things fashion, through the eyes of myself and my two fabulous guests, fashion designer Gwendolynne Burkin, and head designer for Calibre, Ty Henschke. We’ve all worked in the fashion industry for *some time* and have a lot to say. Sadly an hour passes in a flash and so many of our gossipy little stories went untold. Next time…

Gwendolynne “makes people feel beautiful” through her gorgeous, romantic creations, which you can check out here (and above).

We soundtracked the show with tracks from memorable fashion parades we’ve been to or been part of, from recent to distant past. One of the standouts was one of Gwendolynne’s early fashion parade memories – the Bicentennial Wool parade at the Sydney Opera House, featuring the designs of Claude Montana amongst others, and the track was Art of Noise – Moments in Love. Enjoy.

Too late to say Happy Xmas? Of course not! Not everyone has even received my Xmas cards yet, naturally. I created this racy lass for BMW Australia, in partnership with Vogue Australia – I know, right? Managed beautifully by The Illustration Room, and animated by Greg Stewart. Go team! We all loved it so much we did one for the boys too…

It’s been tough – and when I say tough I mean tough like the New York marathon – to get myself to start doing some actual “work” this new year. The summer list was so long, so unrealistic, that no wonder I feel I can’t possibly be calling time on it yet. And don’t even start me on not making it to the beach yet!! I can’t even imagine how I used to cope dragging my arse to workplaces that I didn’t like – I work for myself, doing something I love, from my HOME STUDIO, and yet I still couldn’t bring myself to get back to it?

I decided to take the prep-school approach – begin on a Friday, just in time for a weekend. Friday afternoon, actually…

In today’s edition of The New Black on 3RRR radio it was all about death and rebirth. I spoke with the beautifully eloquent Dr Pia Interlandi about her work in creating Garments for the Grave, and her incredible recent commission by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, for which she created a Little Black (Death) Dress for their current exhibition Items: Is Fashion Modern? You can see can see a brilliant set of images from the exhibition on their website. Worth searching out also is the documentary made for the ABC Artscape series – Soul, which documented Pia’s first collaboration with a client. Her originality and depth of thought is both touching and fascinating, and I love that she is helping to teach people to stare their death fears down.

We took a hook turn after that and welcomed to the studio fashion journalist Jan Breen Burns of VoxFrock, and The Age senior writer Kerrie O’Brien. Jan spent 12 years as fashion editor for The Age, at a time when they switched from print-first to digital-first, and Kerrie specialises in writing about the arts and entertainment areas, having worked on many areas of The Age including Spectrum, Epicure, EG, Domain. We chatted about how (fashion) writing and reporting has changed, the question of Are magazines dead? (Answer: NO – circulation is down but readership is UP), and the disruption in consumer habits that sees us not feeling the need to own things – we stream music, read magazines and newspapers online, car-share or Uber – as usual, it’s all inter-connected. We touched on the new disseminators of information – influencers. And more.

Pia’s Little Black (Death) Dress, currently on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The black dye is heat sensitive and turns to white when touched, then fades back to black.

Pia’s beautiful Garments for the Grave, described by someone as “Made from ivory coloured silk, cotton and hemp, without any metal zippers, plastic buttons, or synthetic firbres, the garments are completely biodegradable. The effect, including delicate silk pockets for the hands and feet, is reminiscent of a beekeeper who has fallen asleep wearing Comme De Garcons.”

Ah yes, if you have just read the entire archive of this blog you will have seen this sketch – I’ve been loving drawing the brilliant designs of Preston Zly for *quite some time*. On today’s episode 2 of The New Black on 3RRR radio we chatted all things SHOES (including just how many pairs I own) with the brilliant designers behind the brand – Peter Zly and Johanna Preston. What a treat. They are passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about the art and craft of designing and making shoes. You can see touch and smell their designs at their studio store at The Rear 219 Smith St Fitzroy (we’re talking Melbourne here) and check out their website here, or their instagram @prestonzly. Oh, and here’s Peter and Johanna!

After shoes we brought in Anthony Capon, designer for Et Al, and Bridal couture designer Craig Braybrook. Aside from being friends, they have both featured on Project Runway Australia – Anthony WON Season 2, and Craig was runner up in Season 3. Interesting to hear about their very different work, and being cast on Project Runway by the producers who got each of their personalities all wrong – can you tell who was naughty and who was nice?

You’ll have to listen back to the show to find out, and hear about just how far back Craig and I go. You can listen here, and finally I remembered to do a selfie with my guests – better late than never. Check out Anthony’s Instagram @i_am_anthonycapon and Craig’s @craigbraybrookcouture – They are two very talented guys, as well as being a whole lot of mischief. Enjoy.

The Patsyfox Newsletter

Fashion Illustration Classes

The Patsyfox Drawing Salon offers boutique Fashion Illustration classes for beginners as well as those with experience. Taught by Angie Réhe - illustrator and University lecturer, class sizes are small and most materials are provided.

Introduction to Fashion Illustration 8-week course. Tuesday evenings 6.30pm - 9.30pm from September 4th. This is a comprehensive course covering all the most important things you need to know for fashion illustration. Suitable for complete beginners or those with experience.

Draw Like the Masters - Classic Fashion Illustration. Sunday 16th September. 12.00pm - 4.00pm. The flair and artistic elan of the Masters are rarely matched in the modern day. There is a boldness and confidence that is full of movement and expression, and yet a complete economy of detail. Spend an afternoon discussing the greatest works of fashion illustration and applying the essence of their brilliance to your own series of sketches.

Watercolour & Ink Technique. Sunday 7th October 10.30am - 4.30pm. Are you sick of making mud pies with your watercolours and inks? This intensive workshop will look at the ways that both media are used, starting with the various qualities of the media, and the importance of tools - brushes, paper, etc. We'll start with a range of fundamental techniques and progress through some advanced effects, specifically as used in Fashion Illustration. It will be creative, it will be fun, you will love it!

So You Think You Can't Draw Faces? Sunday October 14th. A one-day intensive workshop exploring how to draw faces beautifully and correctly. Starting with the structure of the head and taking it through to stylised fashion faces.

Fashion Illustration Bootcamp! Sunday November 18th 10.30am - 4.30pm. A one-day intensive workshop suitable for absolute beginners or those with some experience. Learn the key fundamentals of fashion illustration and how to get a great figure down on paper, then colour it in a dynamic manner.

PRIVATE CLASSES - I have recently opened up some time again in my schedule for private tuition. Contact me directly for details. A more expensive option per hour, less time is required and lessons are designed and targeted specific to your requirements.

Gift certificates! The gift that keeps on giving, you can purchase gift certificates for specific classes and workshops, or just as a value to contribute to any Drawing Salon workshops. Valid for 12 months.